Tuesday, March 29, 2016

When our cable/internet provider stopped displaying a channel directory on channel 2 recently, we naturally figured it was just another screw-up and would return eventually.

But it didn't. At Maria's urging, I called the office of Fusion Media and learned that the channel guide was now digitally scrambled and we needed set-top boxes (an archaic misnomer, since there is no top on flat screen TVs to hold a box) to see it and other digital content. They are going to change over to all-digital and everyone needs the boxes, even if they already have digital-ready TVs. The boxes, I was told, can be picked up at their office. The first two boxes are free and each subsequent box is $5 and change monthly.

I picked up three boxes last week and installed them to run TVs in the master bedroom, living room and Maria's sewing room. A few days later, I got around to synching the included programmable remote controls to work with each TV.

Playing with the remote this afternoon, I discovered the boxes have a DVR function. Delving deeper, I find that the Motorola DCT6412 III is a rather sophisticated DVR. (It says "Dual Tuner DVR" on the front of the box. Duh!)

It apparently didn't occur to the women at the cable office to mention this. It also didn't occur to anyone there to include an operator's manual with the DVRs. But a little internet searching yielded a 50-page manual for the DCT6412 III that I just printed out, using two-sided printing on my Brother all-in-one printer, copier, fax, etc.

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This, of course, is me

I'm a Cancerian: seriously into comfort, security and acquiring and hanging onto my stuff. I cherish the past, enjoy the hell out of the present and provide for the future.
My favorite places are the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Big Sur coast of California, but most of the American West is just fine with me.
I have an abiding appreciation for good writing, humor, self-sufficiency and a sense of honor.